External links
- Alison Nisselle at IMDb
- Alison Nisselle at AusLit
- Alison Nisselle at Screen Australia
- Alison Nisselle: 2016 Jan Sardi Award Recipient at YouTube
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Alison Nisselle | |
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| Born | Alison Lempriere Smith 26 April 1943 |
| Died | 15 November 2023 (aged 80) Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1977–2021 |
| Known for | Phoenix , Janus and Zoo Family |
Alison Nisselle OAM (26 April 1943 - 15 November 2023) was an Australian writer and producer best known for co-creating the crime drama TV series Phoenix and Janus (with Tony McDonald), creating the children's TV series Zoo Family and writing the feature films Curtin , Healing and Parer's War . [1]
Before beginning her career as a filmmaker, Nisselle worked as a journalist for the Herald Sun and Channel 7 and then as a military researcher on period drama TV series The Sullivans . [2] [3] [4] While working on The Sullivans, Nisselle's depth of research on cryptographic techniques employed by the classified Z Special Unit resulted in an inadvertent breach of the Official Secrets Act. [5]
Nisselle drew local and international [6] acclaim for her role as co-creator and writer of the groundbreaking crime dramas Phoenix and Janus, which depicted complex and realistic relationships between police and criminals and has been identified as an early forerunner to later dramas like The Wire. [7]
Nisselle worked as a screenwriter, producer, script editor and script producer across a career spanning over four decades, drawing particular praise for the research-driven realism and accuracy she brought to her work. [8] [9]
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Interview | 1998 | Script editor | |
| Healing | 2014 | Co-writer | with Craig Monahan |
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Box | 1977 | Writer (1 episode) | ||
| The John Sullivan Story | 1979 | Researcher | TV Movie | |
| Skyways (TV series) | 1979-1981 | Writer (5 episodes) [10] | ||
| Carson's Law | 1983 | Writer (3 episodes) | ||
| Zoo Family | 1985 | Creator Writer (3 episodes) | ||
| Prisoner (TV series) | 1986 | Writer (9 episodes) Story editor (6 episodes) | Series finale | |
| Sons and Daughters | 1987 | Story editor (1 episode) | Series finale | |
| The Flying Doctors | 1985–1988 | Writer (2 episodes) Story development (3 episodes) | ||
| G.P. | 1990 | Story development (3 episodes) | ||
| Street Angels (1991 film) | 1991 | Writer | TV movie | |
| Phoenix | 1992–1993 | Co-creator Writer (6 episodes) | with Tony McDonald | |
| Janus | 1994–1995 | Co-creator Co-producer Writer (1 episode) | with Tony McDonald | |
| The Feds: Betrayal | 1996 | Writer | with Tony McDonald TV movie as part of The Feds (miniseries) | |
| The Feds: Deadfall | 1996 | Writer | TV movie as part of The Feds (miniseries) | |
| Ocean Girl | 1994–1996 | Writer (3 episodes) | ||
| Ship to Shore | 1996 | Writer (3 episodes) | ||
| Thunderstone | 1999 | Writer (2 episodes) | ||
| Marshall Law | 2002 | Co-creator Writer (17 episodes) | with Rick Held and Bevan Lee | |
| Blue Heelers | 2004 | Writer (1 episode) | ||
| headLand | 2005 | Writer (1 episode) | ||
| Home and Away | 1988–2006 | Writer (39 episodes) | ||
| Curtin | 2007 | Writer | TV movie | |
| Bed of Roses | 2010 | Script editor (7 episodes) | ||
| Hawke | 2010 | Script editor | TV movie | |
| The Mystery of a Hansom Cab | 2012 | Script editor | TV movie | |
| Reef Doctors | 2013 | Story producer | ||
| Parer's War | 2014 | Writer | ||
| Newton's Law | 2017 | Script executive (ABC) | ||
| Seven Types of Ambiguity | 2017 | Script executive (ABC) | ||
| Bloom | 2019 | Story editor (6 episodes) Writer (1 episode) | ||
Awards and commendations for works created or written by Nisselle include TV Week Logie Awards for Phoenix , Janus (which also received a Human Rights TV Drama Award from the Australian Human Rights Commission) [11] and Curtin and a Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Healing . In 2016, Nisselle received the inaugural Jan Sardi Award as part of Film Victoria's 2016 Screen Leader Awards for her significant achievement as a screenwriter and was recognised in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). [12] [13]
Following her death in November 2023, the Australian Writers' Guild released a statement praising Nisselle as "...a towering figure among the generation of writers without whom today's film and television industry would not exist. She will be remembered not only for her vast and varied body of work, and her numerous accolades and awards, but also for her warmth and wit. She was a brilliant writer, editor, creator, producer and, to many of us, a wise and generous mentor." [14]
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